Johnson, Marinovich Move Their Rivalry to UCLA, USC

From the South Coast Conference to the Pacific 10 Conference, the rivalry will be continued.

When Bret Johnson of El Toro High School signed with UCLA and Todd Marinovich of Capistrano Valley in Mission Viejo signed with USC Wednesday, the stage was set for some future showdowns between two of the best quarterbacks in the country who just happened to play their high school ball within a few miles of each other in Orange County.

Johnson, who visited USC, Notre Dame and Penn State as well as UCLA, said that he chose UCLA because he felt most comfortable there. And he said that his decision was not based, in any way, on what Marinovich was planning to do.

Marinovich, whose family has strong ties to USC, visited only Stanford and USC, knowing that those were his top choices and not wanting to waste the time or money of any of the other schools that were calling.

For Marinovich, the decision was made two weeks ago when, on his visit to USC, the coaches took him onto the field at the Coliseum and showed him the scoreboard flashing a “Welcome Todd Marinovich” while he soaked up the feel of the piped-in crowd noise. Marinovich said: “It was spine tingling. When I walked down the tunnel, I was thinking, ‘This is where I have to go.’ When I walked down the tunnel of the Coliseum, I knew. When I walked across campus, I knew.”

USC did not have the same effect on Johnson, and UCLA Coach Terry Donahue is glad of that. Donahue said: “Bret Johnson is the only quarterback that we recruited. He was the only quarterback we offered a scholarship to. We put all of our eggs in one basket, and we’re delighted to have him.

“We’ve been recruiting Bret Johnson for two years. We knew he was the one we wanted.”

UCLA also signed one of the most sought-after running backs in the country, Kevin Williams of Spring, Tex.

Williams, who rushed for 1,339 yards in just eight games this season, was considered the nation’s No. 1 prospect by the National High School Football Recruiting Service. Donahue said: “We really needed to replace Gaston Green’s speed, and we think we did that with Kevin Williams. He’s a track man with excellent speed.”

Williams reportedly runs a 4.45-second 40-yard dash.

Before committing to UCLA a few days ago, Williams considered Texas, Texas A&M;, Oklahoma and Nebraska.

Johnson and Williams led the list of 18 high school seniors signed by UCLA Wednesday. Of the high school players signed, 10 were considered first-team All-Americans. The Bruins also signed one community college player, defensive back Damion Lyons of Oakland.

Marinovich led a list of 29 players who signed with USC--26 high school players and three junior college players. Of the Trojans’ high school recruits, six were All-Americans.

The most celebrated of the Trojan recruits also had the most impressive statistics. Marinovich, who played for two years at Matre Dei in Santa Ana and two years at Capistrano Valley, set a national high school record with 9,149 passing yards.

Marinovich is the son of 1962 USC team co-captain Marv Marinovich. Todd’s mother also went to USC. His sister is there now. And he also had an uncle, an aunt and a grandfather who were Trojans.

Johnson, who has led El Toro to the Southern Conference title the last two years, passed for 6,538 yards and 63 touchdowns in his career.

Asked what he liked about Johnson, Donahue said: “I like everything about him. I like the fact that he’s won two CIF championships. I like his field presence, his leadership, his athletic skills, his mobility, his throwing arm. Everything.”

Donahue and Johnson expect Johnson to redshirt next season while Troy Aikman plays his senior season at quarterback for the Bruins. After that, as Donahue puts it, “It’s going to be wide open, and it’s going to be a real battle.” The Bruins have three or four quarterbacks waiting behind Aikman now.

Johnson said that the fact that Aikman was at UCLA was one of the plus factors. “You know that the starting quarterback has one more year, and then it’s open competition,” he said.

Among the other top Bruin recruits are Brian Jacobs, a 6-foot 5-inch, 255-pound offensive lineman from Hart High, running back-defensive back Willie Crawford of Beverly Hills High, tailback Shawn Wills from Hanford High, wide receiver Sean LaChapelle from Napa’s Vintage High, linebacker Meech Shaw from Ponca City (Okla.), nose guard Andrew Brigida from Northern Valley High in Old Tappan, N.J., and wide receiver Fred Gilbert from Huntsville High in Texas.

The top Trojan recruits include punter/placekicker Ron Dale of Boulder City (Nev.); linebacker Kurt Barber of Paducah (Ky.) Tilghman High; Matt Gee of Arkansas City (Kan.) High; defensive back Lamont Hollinquest of Pius X High in Downey, and defensive back Stephon Pace of Bishop Amat in La Puente.

Two of the Trojans’ community college signees, Randy Hord of Riverside City College and Mike Petrini of Bakersfield College, were All-Americans.

USC Coach Larry Smith said: “I think this is an exceptionally fine recruiting class. We filled many of our needs and we were able to land one or more of our top choices at every position.

“The true quality of a recruiting class doesn’t come about for two or three years, but I really believe this group will be one of the top classes USC has had because it combines the qualities of high academic, character and athletic ability.”

Notes

Willie Crawford, a running back from Beverly Hills High School who signed with UCLA, is the son of former Dodger Willie Crawford. He rushed for 1,299 yards and 18 touchdowns and also made 151 tackles. . . . USC signed Randy Hord, a 6-4, 250-pound lineman at Riverside City College. He is the son of former Ram lineman Roy Hord and he’ll be joining the Trojans in time for spring practice. . . . Arroyo of El Monte’s 6-8, 270-pound offensive lineman, Rick Fuller, chose UCLA after Bruin Coach Terry Donahue said that he could also compete in track. Fuller is one of the state’s top shotputters. . . . Another big lineman bound for the Bruins is Andrew Brigida, a 6-2, 270-pounder from Northern Valley High School in Old Tappan, N.J. Brigida bench presses 420 pounds and made 51 solo tackles last season. . . . UCLA recruiting coordinator Bill Rees was in Texas Wednesday to personally sign Kevin Williams. . . . Shawn Wills is coming to UCLA with the CIF Central Section rushing record of 4,648 yards and 58 touchdowns. . . . Bruin linebacker Meech Shaw set a Ponca (Okla.) City High School record with 388 tackles, including 52 for losses. . . . The Trojans are getting a punter considered by several recruiting services to be the best in the country. Ron Dale of Boulder City, Nev., averaged 48.0 yards on 46 punts last season, consistently getting 4.2-4.6 seconds of hang time. . . . The Trojans beat out Oklahoma when they signed linebacker Matt Gee of Arkansas City, Kan.

UCLA SIGNINGS

Name Hometown (High School) Ht. Wt. Dave Audelo Canoga Park (Canoga Park) 6-4 270 Sean Bell Gillette, Wyo., (Campbell Co.) 6-6 255 Andrew Brigida Old Tappan, N.J. (N. Valley) 6-1 270 Kaleaph Carter Huntington Beach (Edison) 6-1 200 Willie Crawford Beverly Hills (Beverly Hills) 6-0 200 Rick Daly Friendswood, Tex. (Fr’wood) 6-5 210 Kerry Ferrell Piscataway, N.J. (Piscataway) 5-10 175 Rick Fuller Temple City (Arroyo) 6-8 270 Fred Gilbert Huntsville, Tex. (Huntsville) 5-9 170 Brian Jacobs Valencia (Hart) 6-5 255 Bret Johnson Mission Viejo (El Toro) 6-1 175 Sean LaChapelle Napa (Vintage) 6-2 180 Mike Linn Yorba Linda (Esperanza) 6-5 260 Eric Nelson Carson (St. Bernard) 6-3 190 Meech Shaw Ponca City, Okla. (Ponca City) 6-3 215 Cory Wayland El Toro (El Toro) 6-4 250 Kevin Williams Spring, Tex. (Spring) 6-2 190 Shawn Wills Hanford (Hanford) 5-11 180

Name Pos. Dave Audelo Linebacker Sean Bell Defensive Line Andrew Brigida Nose Guard Kaleaph Carter Fullback Willie Crawford Running Back Rick Daly Tight End Kerry Ferrell Wide Receiver Rick Fuller Linebacker Fred Gilbert Linebacker Brian Jacobs Offensive Line Bret Johnson Quarterback Sean LaChapelle Wide Receiver Mike Linn Linebacker Eric Nelson Defensive Back Meech Shaw Linebacker Cory Wayland Defensive Line Kevin Williams Running Back Shawn Wills Running Back

COMMUNITY COLLEGE SIGNINGS

Name Hometown (School) Ht. Wt. Pos. Damion Lyons Oakland (Laney JC) 5-11 170 Defensive Back

USC SIGNINGS

Name Hometown (High School) Ht. Wt. Kurt Barber Paducah, Ky. (Paducah) 6-5 210 DeChon Burns Riverside (Rubidoux) 5-11 185 J.R. Chesley Indian Head, Md. (Lackey) 6-4 210 Bob Crane Long Beach (Millikan) 6-4 215 Ron Dale Boulder City, Nev. (Boulder C.) 6-3 190 Eric Dixon Huber Heights, Ohio (Wayne) 6-1 190 Michael Gaytan Malvern, Pa. (Great Valley) 6-6 260 Matt Gee Arkansas City, Kan. (Ark. City) 6-3 230 Fred Harris Denver (Montebello) 6-6 218 Zuri Hector San Francisco (Washington) 6-3 190 Lamont Hollinquest Lynwood (Pius X) 6-3 210 Bruce Luizzi Burbank (Burroughs) 6-3 185 Todd Marinovich Balboa (Capistrano Valley) 6-4 210 Mike Mooney Temple City (Temple City) 6-2 220 Stephon Pace Duarte (Bishop Amat) 6-1 180 Jeff Pease Mission Viejo (Mission Viejo) 6-2 233 Kian Ramsay Independence, Ore. (Dallas) 6-6 260 Mazio Royster Pomona (Bishop Amat) 6-2 185 Joel Scott Houston (Willowridge) 6-3 185 Keith Siscel Vacaville (Vacaville) 6-6 263 DeNail Sparks Claremont (Claremont) 6-4 240 Titus Tuiasosopo Carson (Banning) 6-2 237 George Tuioti Santa Ana (Santa Ana) 6-4 215 Larry Wallace Stockton (Lincoln) 6-2 175 David Webb Irvine (Irvine) 6-4 215

Name Pos. Kurt Barber Linebacker DeChon Burns Defensive Back J.R. Chesley Linebacker Bob Crane Linebacker Ron Dale Kicker Eric Dixon Running Back Michael Gaytan Lineman Matt Gee Linebacker Fred Harris Linebacker Zuri Hector Defensive Back Lamont Hollinquest Defensive Back Bruce Luizzi Defensive Back Todd Marinovich Quarterback Mike Mooney Fullback Stephon Pace Defensive Back Jeff Pease Linebacker Kian Ramsay Lineman Mazio Royster Running Back Joel Scott Wide Receiver Keith Siscel Lineman DeNail Sparks Lineman Titus Tuiasosopo Linebacker George Tuioti Linebacker Larry Wallace Wide Receiver David Webb Linebacker

COMMUNITY COLLEGE SIGNINGS

Name Hometown (School) Ht. Wt. Pos. Randy Hord Riverside (Riverside) 6-4 210 Lineman Mike Petrini Bakersfield (Bakersfield) 6-4 270 Lineman Levin White Alta Loma (San Bernardino) 6-0 190 Defensive Back